GrapeCity: Empowering Developers to Build Better Solutions

Joseph Lininger, Head of Global Marketing

GrapeCity develops components that offer the widest range of Microsoft Visual Studio elements and IDE platform tools with the objective of empowering developers to build better solutions. One of the earliest partners of Microsoft, GrapeCity ensures that all their products work seamlessly within the Microsoft environment.

Over the years, GrapeCity has expanded its product line through several acquisitions. The acquisition of ComponentOne, a well-known brand in the application development industry, added a suite of .NET, Xamarin, and JavaScript UI controls for desktop, web, and native mobile that allow development teams to deliver faster, more powerful apps in less time.

In addition, GrapeCity offers reporting solutions with extensive .NET API and data visualization, known as ActiveReports Developer and ActiveReports Server. The addition of Farpoint Spread, now known simply as Spread, offered spreadsheet solutions for .NET and JavaScript that function as complete business application tools for data presentation, charts, input forms, interactive dashboards, and performance monitoring.

Wijmo, GrapeCity’s homegrown collection of fast, flexible, and familiar JavaScript controls, leads the industry with dependency-free, framework-agnostic web UI components. “Wijmo’s really at the forefront of flexible JavaScript development,” says Joseph Lininger, GrapeCity Head of Global Marketing. “Wijmo’s controls support all the main frameworks, like, Angular, AngularJS, React, and Vue. js, so that the customer doesn’t need a separate set of controls to build different apps.”

The clientele of GrapeCity largely comprises of software developers and IT professionals that span from small to large enterprises. “We’re all about supporting developers and their needs, empowering them to build better applications,” remarks Lininger. GrapeCity is immensely proud of the support they provide to customers.

Their tagline “Our team is your team” is sincere, as not only does GrapeCity build components for use in software, they also work closely with customers to ensure that the solutions effectively solve clients’ problems. For instance, when an enterprise agreed to purchase a number of Wijmo licenses but required capabilities that were not present in the original solution, GrapeCity customized its solution to meet the client’s specifications. In addition to the customer benefits, these customizations inform GrapeCity product roadmaps and improve the support overall.

Lininger also elaborated on the synergy between GrapeCity and Microsoft. “Developers are tech-savvy people who switch vendors if a firm doesn’t consistently support their needs,” he said. “The focus of GrapeCity lies in ensuring superior support to application developers in JavaScript, mobile, and especially the Microsoft ecosystem.” As Visual Studio Partners, GrapeCity leverages Microsoft’s market approach and engages with other partners to respond to the evolving technological landscape. In addition, previews of technologies—like Visual Studio versions— ensure GrapeCity stays on top of shifting customer needs.

For instance, when the Xamarin platform came out a few years ago, it provided .NET developers with an easy transition to the world of native mobile—but at the price of buying the Xamarin Studio IDE. At the time, GrapeCity created Xuni, a product line that provided native mobile UI controls to iOS, Android, and Xamarin developers.

When Microsoft acquired Xamarin in 2016, making its platform free with new versions of Visual Studio, GrapeCity shifted the product’s focus away from iOS and Android to a fully Xamarin-focused product, which is now available as ComponentOne Studio for Xamarin. “It’s our audience,” Lininger said. “We’ve worked with .NET developers for years, and now those same developers can easily transition to the native mobile space. When they need the best grids and charts, they’ll know that we provide them.”

Presently, GrapeCity is keeping pace with evolving trends like mobility, globalization, and accessibility. “The objective is to stay focused on where the industry is headed, in addition to being careful that we’re following and adapting to the industry trends,” concludes Lininger.